Heat Haze Days
by TigerStripe is Numbuh 6.13
Summary: It was an endless cycle of gruesome deaths. And they both knew it. They could only hope to save the other, but it would never end, anyway. Their efforts were useless. Rated T for blood.


**Oh wow...**

**I can't update any of my stories yet, got too much homework to do. Damn highschool...**

**Well anyway, I managed to squeeze in this oneshot during the sparse moments I had. Enjoy the blood x)**

**Y'know, if you want a different pairing, you could just change the characters to the pairing you want. For this one, I'm using Rachel and Nigel (WITH HAIR *gasp*).**

**If you want to switch the characters, this story is most compatible with Aurora and Francis, Panini and Cheren, Sheila and Mason, Fanny and Patton or Haruka and Lee. It's somewhat compatible with other pairings.**

**But that's just my opinion. It's your decision x)**

* * *

**Heat Haze Days**

It was an endless cycle of gruesome deaths. And they both knew it. They could only hope to save the other, but it would never end, anyway. Their efforts were useless.

Genre: Romance/Tragedy

Nigel U. & Rachel mK.

* * *

_**On August 14th, 12:30 in the afternoon,**_

_**The weather was incredibly nice...**_

_Beep! Beep!_

Nigel pulled out his iPhone, looking at the time. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. Huh, good thing he already had lunch. Tucking it back in, he looked up at the sky, and winced as he mistakenly stared directly at the sun.

_Man, it's hot... _He thought, shielding his eyes from the burning rays. A hand gripped the bars of the swing tighter as he tried to peek through his fingers to look at how bright the sun was.

"Hey there, soldier," A voice said, making Nigel blink before he dropped his hand to his side, staring at the other swing.

_**And amidst the sickening rays of the dazzling sun**_

_**I spoke with you, for I had nothing else to do.**_

It was Rachel McKenzie, the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door. A smile was on her face as she held on to the swing, her orange tiger striped sweater and blue jumpsuit traded in for an orange tiger patterned sundress.

"Good afternoon, Supreme Leader ma'am," Nigel said, greeting her cordially.

Rachel tut-tutted. "Oh please, Nigel Uno. You can call me Rachel when we're not on duty, you know. I don't take it against you." She tucked a strand of blonde hair idly just as Nigel heard a small mew. Blinking, he looked down at Rachel's lap to see a small white kitten, mewling for Rachel's hand.

"I never knew you had a cat, Rachel." Nigel stated.

The blonde smiled and patted the kitten's head. "Aurora's the best pet I could ever have, you know. How's summer been for you, soldier?"

"Boring, idle, boring, unresourceful, and did I mention boring?" The brown haired operative smiled a debonair smile, running a hand through his hair again. Boy, did it feel good to have his hair back again.

Rachel only smiled, staring at the distance.

"_**Well, y'know, I kinda hate summer."**_

_**You boldly murmured while petting a cat.**_

"Why do you hate summer?" Nigel raised an eyebrow.

The Supreme Leader blinked, not realizing what she just said. Glancing at the sunglasses wearing boy, she only blinked once more before smiling and giggling, as if to wave off the topic. "C'mon, Nigel, let's take a walk."

The two operatives stood up from the swings, heading towards the city. Aurora purred in Rachel's arms as she held her tight, smiling as she asked Nigel, "So how's Katie?"

"She's fine. Leo's keeping her occupied." They both snickered at that.

Just then, Aurora wriggled in Rachel's arms before slipping through her arms and landing on the cobblestone pathway. Mewing, she darted away, leaving the two standing in the middle of the pathway. Rachel reacted first as she ran after the kitten, calling, "Aurora!"

_**Ah, you pursued that cat as it ran away from you,**_

_**And what jumped out was the traffic light that changed into a glaring red.**_

Nigel didn't react at first. He only watched as his Supreme Leader ran after the cat, which was heading towards the road in very fast pawsteps. The little kitten seemed to be avoiding her owner as she mewled again, barreling onto the road.

The telltale sound of a truck told Nigel what was about to happen.

"RACHEL!" The boy yelled frantically at Rachel's back, hoping to stop her. He ran forward, reaching out to stop her just as the traffic light turned to red, and suddenly, the road was alive again. Rachel only had enough time to turn and look at the looming vehicle which approached her quickly before her eyes widened in fear.

_SCREEEEEECH!_

_**Suddenly, a truck came out of nowhere and struck you as you screamed**_

_**Your scent, now mingled with sprayed blood, choked me...**_

Blood spattered against every available surface, which included Nigel himself as he slowed to a stop on the edge of the curb, staring, horrified, at the scene in front of him. Rachel's limp body fell to the ground, her hand hitting lifelessly against the road, and suddenly, the situation sunk in.

Nigel held a hand to his mouth, as if to stifle the sound of his unheard screams. The truck had stopped when it hit the girl, whose body was splayed out on the ground, surrounded by blood. Her orange sundress was stained bloody while more blood bubbled up her throat and trickled down the side of her mouth.

The brown haired boy backed away, looking down while he held both hands to his mouth. Tears began leaking out of his eyes as he silently mourned the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door's unfortunate death by truck.

_**In the haze of lies, the haze of heat laughed, "This is all real!"**_

_**With that, like a cricket's sound being disturbed, the light blue of summer darkened away...**_

"It's all real, Nigel Uno!" Nigel looked up, horrified, as he saw a silhouetted version of himself standing across the street from him. Much to his terror, it was grinning maliciously as it pointed to Rachel's dead body.

Nigel choked out, "No... t-this isn't real!"

"Oh, it's real alright..." The other boy grinned before looking at the time. "I hate to leave you without recording this moment, but I have to say bye bye!" Silhouette Nigel laughed evilly, waving a goodbye. Nigel's eyes widened slightly before he felt himself blacking out.

* * *

_Clocks. Clocks everywhere. They were all ticking at various speeds. Some were slower than a turtle, others were faster than a cheetah. However, there was one clock that had stopped. It had disrupted the synchronized flow of the clocks._

_A silhouetted Nigel placed his hand on the dead clock, staining the clock with blood before running away, grinning._

* * *

_**I woke up upon my bed to the sound of a ticking clock**_

_**What time is it now?**_

_BRRIIIIIING!_

Nigel's eyes fluttered open, staring at the ceiling. Where was he?

He looked around him, and saw that somehow, he had ended up in his room. For no reason whatsoever, despite the fac t that he already had a wall clock, he felt the need to check the time on his iPhone, which he did. It said it was 12:04.

He looked outside. The sky was clear again.

_So... was it a dream?_

_**On August 14th, sometime past 12 in the morning**_

_**I recalled the sound of an awfully annoying cricket...**_

They were there again.

Rachel was alive once more, sitting next to him and giggling, with Aurora on her lap. However, Nigel didn't feel happy about the fact that she was alive again. The dream had probably been a sign that it would happen today, and that he needed to save her.

"... Nigel?" Rachel looked concerned as she looked at him. "You don't look OK..."

"I-I'm fine," Nigel murmured, sighing.

The blonde girl only rolled her eyes. "Come on, soldier, let's take a walk."

_**But, y'know, it's a little strange,**_

_**Yesterday, in a dream, I saw us walking in the exact same park**_

"Aurora!"

Oh no... here it came again. That stupid cat just _had _to jump out of her arms, didn't it?

Rachel was about to chase once more after her beloved pet when blood suddenly flashed across Nigel's gaze, which made him quickly jerk out his hand and grab her arm. She stopped, halted by the strength of his grip, as she looked at him. He looked a bit solemn.

"_**Why don't we go home now?"**_

"Um, OK, Nigel..." Rachel only shrugged. Aurora could get home by herself, anyway.

The two friends walked the path back to Nigel's street, where Rachel had parked her COOLBUS, which she had borrowed from Fanny. Beside their house was a construction site, so they had to be a bit careful. For some reason though, the street was a bit noisier than usual. Lots of people were out, chatting amongst themselves as the two operatives walked past, eager to leave.

"Look!"

_**The second you stepped off the pathway**_

_**Everything surrounding us turned their heads up to the sky and opened their mouths**_

Rachel looked down, as if contemplating something for a moment. Then, with a determined gaze, she pushed Nigel backwards and lunged forward. Nigel only had time to comprehend what happened before suddenly, he saw the falling metal bar hurtling towards her.

"NO!"

_**From the sky, down dropped an iron pole that pierced your body straight through,**_

_**The sound of windchimes and your ripping screams filled the spaces between the park trees**_

"Ah!" That was the last sound Rachel emitted before the sharp metal pole pierced through her back and through her whole body, scattering blood on the road once more. She opened her mouth to scream a bit, but only blood came out, which made Nigel gasp and run forward.

Silhouette Nigel passed by him, grinning evilly once more. The real Nigel's eyes widened as he skidded to a stop, realizing this.

_**In this unnatural scene, the shimmering heat laughed, "This is the real thing!"**_

_**As my vision blurred away, I glanced at your profile, and thought I saw you smiling...**_

"You can't stop history, Nigel." Silhouette Nigel stated, grinning. "This is destiny."

"NO!" Nigel yelled, looking over to Rachel, who was on the brink of death. However, what horrified him wasn't the fact that she was still alive even though her flesh and bone had been severed in half in a bloody mess.

It was the fact that she was smiling during all this.

That was the only thing he remembered before he blacked out once more.

* * *

Nigel woke up again, sitting up quickly. He groaned, rubbing his head. "A... dream? Only a dream?" His eyes widened at his own statement before he jumped out of bed, running out and dressing up quickly. He ran to the park, where Rachel was waiting with her cat, Aurora. The girl smiled, greeting him, "Good morning, Nigel!"

"HURRY!" He yelled suddenly, startling her as he grabbed her wrist, dragging her back to his house. She managed to keep up, surprisingly, as they started climbing the stairs to the treehouse. Nigel reached the top first, and he turned around, watching as Rachel climbed up after him. "Hurry!"

"It's pointless, Uno." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Silhouette Nigel leaning against the wooden railing of the treehouse, looking down at his shoes, but with a satisfied smirk on his face. Nigel's eyes only widened a bit before Rachel suddenly drew in a sharp intake of breath which made him turn her gaze on her.

Her pupils shrank as she did a misstep, and suddenly, it was the truck and the pole all over again. Nigel quickly reached out to grab her wrist, but he missed her by a hair as she fell over backwards, a hand reached out to him.

"NO!"

Visions began running in Nigel's mind as Rachel's limp body lay on the last set of stairs. Visions of millions of clocks, most of them bloodied by hand prints, and Rachel's smiling face appearing at one point. Aurora the kitten had also appeared at one point, and this made him think.

_Is this... an endless cycle of death? Is time repeating itself over and over?_

The rest of Sector V came out of the treehouse, wondering what had happened, when they saw their Supreme Leader's body sprawled out on the lawn. Kuki gasped before burrowing her face into Wally's sleeve, sobbing, while said Australian only stared at the dead body in horror. Abby took off her hat in respect, but she herself had silent tears running down her face. Hoagie just held her close, goggles tossed to the side to reveal watery blue eyes.

Nigel gripped the railing as Silhouette Nigel faded away. _It... it doesn't matter anymore... I don't want to see your body mangled again! RACHEL!_

* * *

_**Countless times have had me black out in the laughing heat like this**_

_**This cycle has repeated for decades, I'd realized that a long time ago**_

_**In this kind of cliched story, there must be only one ending,**_

_**Beyond this repeating summer day, it has to exist.**_

It was unbelievably surreal.

Nigel saw himself – as in another him right in front of him – running towards Rachel, who had chased Aurora once more. He might have been hallucinating, but it all just seemed too real to be a hallucination. He really was seeing himself trying – and failing – to save Aurora in another perspective.

He bowed his head, resigned to his fate. If he wanted to save Aurora, he had to do something better than chasing and yelling for her. Before he knew what was happening, he pushed against a lamp post and pushed forward, the spirit of the other Nigel merging with him as the time turned into the present.

If you didn't understand that, I'll explain it to you.

There were two Nigels during that scene. The real Nigel was standing near a lamp post, watching as a spirit version of the first scenario replayed before his eyes. When he ran through the spirit Nigel, he merged with him, and everything became real. I know, it's unbelievable, but it happened.

_**Suddenly I pushed you aside and jumped into the street;**_

_**At that moment the truck slammed into me**_

Nigel pushed Rachel away, startling her into falling down on the curb and hurting her backside. Aside from that, she was unharmed as she stood up again, only to watch the truck slam into Nigel as he smiled grimly in acceptance.

_**Your eyes and my twisted body were like reflections**_

_**Of the blood that sprayed everywhere**_

"Nigel!" Rachel's pupils shrank in terror as Nigel's body started falling to the ground. She blinked back tears as she shook in place, the blood seeping up her dress. Unbeknownst to her, Silhouette Nigel stood, watching the scene with wide eyes. He had no scathing and taunting remarks this time; he was too surprised by what the real Nigel did to do anything else.

_**If that praiseful heat haze laughed, "Serves you right!" again,**_

_**Then this would be a normal summer day,**_

_**But all that ended today...**_

Nigel weakly turned his head to the other Nigel, grinning grimly. However, he wasn't prepared to see a similar look of sadness and tears falling down his cheeks. Behind Rachel, he saw yet another silhouette, a Silhouette Rachel, tightening her fists and opening her eyes, staring directly at Nigel.

He only gasped as his eyes widened before he blacked out for good.

* * *

_**On August 14th, a girl woke up upon her bed,**_

_**And she said, "I failed this time too," as she cradled a single cat...**_

Rachel jolted out of her bed, looking around, before she recalled the events that had happened. Tears welled up in her eyes once more as she whispered, "I failed this time too... why, Nigel..." Aurora jumped up on the bed, meowing for a hug, which Rachel gave, albeit a bit halfheartedly, as Silhouette Rachel popped up.

"Care to try saving him again, princess?" She asked evilly, a smirk crossing her face.


End file.
